Igniter



' May 17, 1932. H A DOUGLAS l 1,859,201

IGNITERI A l l Filed May 9, 1929 2 sheets-sheet 1 W /9 7 f4, g y Z7Ziff/6W' -Mgy 17,' 1932.

H. A. DOUGLAS vIGNITER Filed 'May 9; 1929 2 sheets-sheep "2 mmm 6 mm z@Q7 7 A 2 z 52W/gg @Wag/a Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICEl HARRY A. DOUGLAS, 0F JanonsoN,4 MIGHIGAN 4 IGNITER Applicationled May 9, l1929. Serial No. 361,671.

screw plugs to permit of the replenishment of fuel therein. It is oneobject of my invention to eliminate the re-filling of such receptaclesby the users.v

In accordance with one feature of my invention I provide a casing inwhich the fuel carrying member of the igniter is separably received andis held in cooperative relation with the igniting mechanism, which ispreferably entirely carried upon the casing independently of the fuelcarrying member of the igniter. The fuel employed is preferably suchliquid as is commonly employed in igniters of the prior art, in whichevent the fuel carrying members of my invention, are in the form ofcontainers from which wicks issue that terminate in close proximity tothe igniting mechanism or spark producer. Such containers, filled withfuel, are supplied to the trade to be sold to consumers to replace theemptied containers to their cigar lighters. These empty containers maybe collected and returned to their makers for re-filling and re-sale,thereby cheapening the cost to the consumer. The fuel member isdesirably held in place within the igniter casing by means of a retainerwhich is assembled with preferably all of the igniting mechanism tocooperatively relate such mechanism with the fuel 4member. This retaineris preferably a closure member that forms a. part of the casing andtakes part in covering the igniting mechanism and the wicking or otherportion of the fuel member which is to carry the cigar or cigaretteigniting. flame. In such construction the fuel member is thus receivedin the body of the casing and is guarded by the lid member of thecasing. The lid is desirably hinged upon the bod 4of the casing in orderthat it may be readi y moved into and out of closed position, the lidbeing adapted to be swung sufficiently clear of the body portion of thecasing to permit of the passage of the fuel member into and out of thecasing where the lid is located. A spring desirably presses thecontainer against the lid or other retainer so as to compensate forinequalities in manufacture and to insure the proper relation of thefuel member to the igniting mechanlsm.

My invention finds its most useful embodiment in an ignit-er whoseigniting mechanism is inclusive of a body of pyrophoric material such asflint, and a'striker for impinging upon the flint body to generateigniting sparks, the flint body being in close proximity to the wickingor other part which is carried by the fuel member and which is set intoflame by the sparks that reach its A spring is employed to operate thestriker and a latch serves to hold the spring under tension in readinessto operate the striker upon release of the latch. The striker ispreferably in the form of a hard metal bar having teeth adapted tostrike the fiint body. This bar is preferably pivoted, at one end, uponone arm of a bell crank lever which is pvoted upon the closure lid andconstitutes a. carrier for the striker and the spring is attached, atone end, to this bell crank `arm and at its other end to the retainer orclosure lid. Such carrier or bell crank is held in a depressed positionagainst the force of the spring by the `aforesaid latch and it is turnedby the spring awayfrom the fuel member to effect tbe operation of thestriker and to remove the snuffer from the wick, this snuffer beingdesirably provided upon the carrier. This carrier, therefore, is formedto constitute a closure member which supplements the closing fuction ofthe lid which is preferably maintained in its closed position until thefuel member is to be replaced. The latch is desirably given an inwardmovement to release the carrier when the flame is to vbe established anda sidewise movement when the lid and the carrier are to be removed forthe purpose of replacing the fuel member.

The invention will be more fully explained in connection with theaccompanying draw-- ings in which Fig. l is a viewof an upperl 10 ortionof the igniter of my invention parts ing shown in sectional elevation anparts in full elevation, this figure being generally taken on line 1-1of Flg. 2; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aview, mainly in elevation, of the igniter .portion shown in Fig. 1, afew parts lbeing shown in section; Fig. 4 is a v1ew in elevation of anigniter on a smaller scale, a

portion being shown in section; Fig. 5 is a top view of the ignitershown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an end View of the structure as shown in Fig.3', parts being broken away and shown in section; Fig. 7 is a viewgenerally taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a sectional view online 8-8 of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line 9*-9 of Fig. 1;Fig. 10 is a view, in elevation, of the preferred form of fuel member,parts being broken away and shown in section; Fig. 11 is a sectionalview on line 11-11 of Fig. 1; Fig. 12 is a view of part of the structuregenerally taken on line 12--12 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 13 is a viewgenerally taken on line 13-13 of Fig. 12.-

The fuel member illustrated is inclusive of a container 1 for the liquidfuel 2. This container has a cover 3 permanently secured thereto. Thiscover is furnished with an interiorly threaded bushing 4 that passesthrough an opening in the cover and receives a threaded closure plug 5.This closure plug has a flange 6 which presses a sealing gasket 7 uponthe bushing. Fuel is admitted to the container through the openingoccupied by the plug. Fuel is discharged from the container by means ofa wick 8 that reaches the bottom of the container and passes throughanother opening in the cover 3, this latter opening receiving anotherbushing 9 through which the wick passes. Both bushings are desirablyclinched into engagement with'the cover. The bushing 9 has 'an upwardlyextending slightly tapering continuation 10. An upright elongatedbushing 11 .has its lower end clinched into the border of the portion 10that surrounds an opening at the upper end of this portion. The part 11snugly surrounds the upper end of the wick to position it sufficientlyclose to the spark emanating portion of the igniting mechanism. Whencontainers of the construction described are carried in stock, each issupplied with a cap 12 whose skirt snugl as indicated at 16. baid lid issomewhat in the form of an inverted cup whose bottoni edge or rim isreceived within the upper end of the casing body when the lidnis closed,this rim then engaging the bead 17 which is formed upon and about theupper end of the fuel container, said lid then preventing the containerfrom being displaced upwardly. A leaf spring 18 is secured, at one end,within the casing body and upon its bottom wall, this spring beingdepressed by the lid, when closed, through the intermediation of thefu.l container to. prevent the fuel container from moving about withinthe casing, the spring compensating for some inequalities that may occurin manufacture. When the fuel container within the casing is to bereplaced thelid is swung back upon its hinge 16 clear of the path ofmovement of the container being removed and of the new container to beinserted.

The retainer or lid 15 desirably constitutes a carrier for all of theparts of the igniting mechanism, though the invention is not to be thuslimited. The igniting mechanism illustrated is inclusive of a block 19of pyrophoric material, preferably iiint, which is normallysubstantially stationary with respect to the container and the wick orinflammable element 8 where it issues from the container. Thisrelationship of this block and the wick is desirably normally maintainedby placing the block within a horizontally disposed clip 2O which issecured to the front wall portion 15 of the lid 15. The ignitinmechanism also includes a striker 21 which@ is preferably in the form ofa bar of hard metal having a serrated face that is opposed to andengages one end of the block 19. This striking bar is received withinthe channel of an arm 22 that is of U-shape in cross section with the Uturned ninety degrees. The striking bar is caught between the deflectedend portion 23 of said arm and the tongue 24 which is struck from thearm into its channel as will later appear. The arm 22 is moved to theright when the igniter is used for its purpose. It is guided in itsmovement, at its right hand end, by the flint block 19 and one side ofthe sleeve 152 which is vstruck from the part 15 of the lid. A. leafspring 25 is anchored, at one end, to a side of the cover 15 andpresses,'at its unmounted end, against the block 19 to maintain theblock in engagement with the striking bar and to feed the. block throughthe clip 2() as the block becomes worn by said bar. The arm 22 ispivotally mountedupon trunnions 26 which are struck inwardly from thesides of a^lever 27 which is also U-shaped in cross section. This leveris in the form of a bell crank having pivotal trunnions 28 struckoutwardly therefrom at the elbow of the lever and which trunnions arereceived within socket openings that are formed within ribs 15a that arestruck inwardly from the top of the lid 15.

A coiled spring 29 is anchored, at its front lend, to the clip 20 and isattached, at its rear end, to the depending arm of the bell crank 27.This s rin is under tension and exerts a forward Ibodi y pull upon thelever that maintains the lever trunnions 28 in their socket heads in therib 153, these sockets seats being open toward the left. Said springalso pulls upon the aforesaid lever in a counterclockwise direction, thelever being held 1 n its depressed position by a latch 30 which 1scarried by the lid portion 15. This 11d porjtion is angular anddepressed below the top level of the lid and inwardly offset withrespect to the contiguous upright side of the casing body 13 and theright hand end of the lever 27 to afford a chamber in which the upperend of the wick, the bushing portion 11 and the upper part of thebushing portion 10 are received. This latter bushing portion extendsthrough an opening in the horizontal part of the lid portion 15', thelatchbeing in sliding relation to this horizontal wall part. The innerportion of the latch 30 projects through a slot in the hook like member154 which is carried by the part 15. When the bell crank lever 27 isheld depressed by the latch 30, the snufier 14 snugly engages the top ofthe bushing portion 10 to extinguish the flame that was previouslyproduced in a manner which may be apparent, but which will later bedescribed, and to prevent the evaporation and escape of the liquid fuelfrom the wick. The latch 30 is formed with an ear or lug 30 which ispressed upon by a spring 31 which normally serves to hold the latch inits outermost position and against the force of which the latch isinwardly moved when the igniter is to be operated. When the latch is inits normal outermost position, the part 302 thereof is in register withand engages the to part of the portion 27 of the lever 27 where y thislever is held in its lowered position against the force of the spring29. When the' latch is pushed inwardly against the force of the spring31 the recess 303 is brought into register with the lever portion 27',the spring 29 then being free to turn this levery counterclockwise. Whensaid lever is turned counterclockwise the arm 22 is moved forwardly toscrape the serrated face of the striking bar 21 across the adjacent endof the flint block 19. The sparks which arise at the flint block haveaccess through the bore of the sleeve` 152 to the wick which isconsequently ignited.

The lever 27 is desirably of T form, the stemof the T substantiallyfilling the slot between the ribs 158 of the lid 15 andthe head of the Tfitting into the angular recess afforded by the wall portion 15 of thelid 15 and rounding out the appearance of the devi as indicated' inrigs.4 and 5. The-'r head is hollow to enclose the snuffer and theinflammable end of the wick.

ward movements of the latch, the latch portion 3()4 is always beneathand in enga ement with the casing body portion 13 or the purpose juststated. When it is desired to raise the lid to afford access to the fuelcontainer 1 the latch is moved inwardly and laterally toward the left toremove the latch portion 304 from beneath the body casing portion 13whereupon .the lid 15 and the lever 27 may bemoved in unison to open andclosed positions. When the. lid is raised its rimis disengaged from thebead 17 uponthe fuel container. permitting this container` .to beremoved and replaced by a fresh one.

The unmounted end of spring 25 may be moved to one side and downwardly,the spring being pivotally anchored, when it is desired to replace theflint body 19.

There are a number of novel features of construction in the igniter ofmy invention which are claimed herein apart from the removable fuelmember. f

Changesmay be made without departing from the invention.

- Having` thus described my invention, I claim:

l. An igniter including a. casing; a lever pivoted upon the casing; aspring for operating the lever; a latch upon the casing for positioningthe lever against the force of the spring; a striker operable by thelever when the lever is released by the latch; a body of spark producingmaterial engageable by the striker, when thus operated, to producesparks; and an inflammable element in the region of said body ofspark-producing material to receive igniting sparks therefrom,

ywherein the casing is inclusive of a hinged lid upon which the lever ismounted, wherein the spring is attached, at one end, to the lid,

and wherein the latch is given movement in one direction to release thelever and in holding engagement with the lid throughout this directionof movement and wherein the latch is movable in another directionenabling the release of the lid.

2. An igniter including a casing; a lever pivoted upon the casing; aspring for operating the lever; a` latch upon the casing for positioningthe lever against the force of the spring; a striker operable bythelever whenl the lever is released by the latch; a body of sparkproducing material engageable by the striker, when thus operated, toproduce sparks; and an inflammable element in the region of said body ofspark-producing material to receive igniting sparks therefrom, whereinthe casing is inclusive of a lid upon `which the lever is mounted,wherein the spring is attached, at one end, to the lid,'and wherein thelatch is given movement in one direction to release the lever and inholding engagement with the lid throughout this direction of movementand wherein the latch. is movable in another direction enabling therelease of the lid.

3. An igniter including a casing; a lever pivoted intermediate its endsupon the casing; a. spring for operating the lever and attached theretoat one side o the lever pivot;

f* a latch upon the casing for positioning the lever a ainst the forceofthe spring; a striker coupled with the lever to be o erable by thelever when the lever is, released y the latch; a bod of spark producingmaterial engageable hestrlker, when thus operated, to produce sparks;and an iniammable element in the region of said body of spark producingmaterial to receive igniting sparks therefrom,

wherein the striker is connected 'with the end of the lever withwhich'the spring is connected and is provided with a guide for directingits movement upon the body of spark producing material and wherein thespark receiving portion of the inflammable element is upon the exteriorof the casing and the casing is inclusive of a lid upon which the leveris mounted.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name.

HARRY A. DOUGLAS.

